Tak
Tak and the Power of Juju is an all CGI-based animated television series that premiered on Nickelodeon on and on Nicktoons Network on . It has been showing on Nicktoons in the UK on 5 July 2008. Based on the video game of the same name, the show consists of two eleven minute stories per half hour episode. It is Nickelodeon's first all-CGI series (produced in house) and the company's 30th Nicktoon. The series was produced by Nick Jennings and directed, among others, by Mark Risley, Jim Schumann, and Heiko Drengenberg. http:// http:// http:// *'Tak' (Hal Sparks) - The main character, he has the ability to summon a magic power, which the Jujus (Magical creatures) bestowed upon him to serve as a link between his and their realms. Tak tends to be the smarter of the group, but has his mishaps when it comes to practicing his Juju power. Whenever Lok gets himself into trouble Tak is the first one on the scene to save him. He is Jibolba's nephew and apprentice. He lives with Jibolba. Little is known about Tak's parents except his mother was Aurora Juju and his father was a Pupununu. *'The Chief' (Maurice LaMarche) - He is the leader of the Pupununu and father of Jeera and Zaria. He constantly gets furious at Tak due to his mistakes in the use of his Juju power yet constantly wants Tak to use his powers to help the village (but mainly to help him). He loves his tribe and is very fat. His real name is never mentioned. *'Drum-Beating Orangutan' - An orangutan that communicates by playing the drums. His first appearance is in "Woodiefest." His 2nd appearance is in "The Three Chiefs", and a third in "Our Favorite Juju". *'Lok' (Patrick Warburton) - The resident warrior of the village, Lok is more talk than action and, in fact, his cowardice usually gets the better of him. He'd rather make up a story (mostly from stating it was him and not Tak who saved the village) to save face than do the actual dangerous deed. He often refers to himself in third person. *'Jeera' (Kari Wahlgren) - She is Tak's fun loving best friend. She is the same age as Tak and around 5'3". Jeera is the Chief's daughter and has an older sister named Zaria, who is next in line for the throne and never lets her younger sister forget it. Jeera is a tomboy and will often punch Tak as a sign of endearment. It is hinted she may be in love with Tak; especially when she threatened to beat up his new best friend to get him back if he was to move to another village in the episode "Testing Jibolba." So far, the only game she appears in is the latest one,"Tak and the guardians of gross" *'Keeko' (John DiMaggio) - Careless, laid back, and a dreamer, Keeko is best friends with Tak and Jeera. *'Banutu Steven Jibolba' (Lloyd Sherr) - Tak's uncle and mentor is the shaman of the Pupununu tribe. He may very well be over a hundred years old. *'Zaria' (Dannah Feinglass) - Jeera's 15 year old bossy sister. She is the next one to inherit the throne and won't let Jeera forget it. Psychic Juju hinted that she might not be the future chief. *'Log Hermit' (Maurice LaMarche) - An old hermit who wears a log for clothes. His real name is unknown. He bet Masked Guy that Jeera secretly loved Tak as seen in the episode "Love Hurts". *'Masked Guy' (Lloyd Sherr) - A sheepherder who's always seen wearing a mask. He communicates by mumbling although everybody in the tribe is able to understand him. His real name is unknown and his true face is never shown but is stated by the other villagers that he is extremely beautiful. *'Slog' (Megan Cavanagh) - A heavyset woman who is incredibly strong. She has a big crush on Lok. *'Blod and Bleeta Oongatchaka' (Rene Mujica and Kari Wahlgren respectively) - The spoiled twins are the chidren of the tribe's richest and most snooty family, the Oongachakas. Blod and Bleeta are known to cause trouble for Tak and Jeera because they covet Tak's ability to summon the power of Juju and are constantly plotting ways to take his powers from him. *'Chaka and Oonga Oongachaka' (Mindy Sterling and Lloyd Sherr respectively) - They are the parents of Blod and Bleeta. *'Chief Zogsnob' (Jeff Bennett) - He is one of the Chief's rivals and childhood friends. He is the chief of the Swollen River People. *'Chief Tina-Tina' (Melanie Chartoff) - She is one of the Chief's rivals and childhood friends. *'Donna and Linda' (April Winchell and Dannah Feinglass respectively) - These two talking sheep are part of the herd that's under the care of Masked Guy. They gained the power of speech from Tak on one occasion. *'Navis' (Kari Wahlgren) - Jeera's pet Gratch. She obtains it in "The Littlest Gratch" and can be seen again in "Girls Only", "Mofather", and "Testing Jibolba". *'Shelley' (Unknown) - A Beaver teeth creature that became a friend with Tak and was the servent of Darkness juju, He appears in "Destiny Schmestiny" *'Traloc' (Jeff Bennett) - An evil shaman formerly taught by Jibolba. He appears in the episode, "A Shaman's Shaman." http:// Jujus are very odd magical creatures that Tak calls upon whenever he's in need of them. Each of the Jujus reside in their own part of the Juju Realm. Among the Jujus featured in this series are: *'Aurora Juju' - She's Tak's mom and she created the crystal that powers Tak's staff. She was Darkness Juju's fiance but left him and married a man from the Pupununu tribe. Not much is to be known of her. *'Belly Juju' (Maurice LaMarche) - A hungry juju that has a mouth on his stomach. The stomach controls the body because the head has no brain. *'Big Boss Juju' - A fiery rock monster who is the mightiest Juju in the Juju Realm. It is so powerful, even other Jujus fear him. A long-forgotten Juju tradition has the Pupununu Chief fighting the Big Boss Juju as a way of evading world annihilation. It will target whoever is wearing the crown during the fight. *'Bug Juju' (Wayne Knight) - A small Juju that resembles a beetle. He has command over insects and loves to write autobiographical musicals. *'Bulldrafish' (Maurice LaMarche as Henry/George; Dannah Feinglass as Doris; Rob Paulsen as Gillbert) - A monster that has three heads (an aggressive bull head named Henry/George, a female dragon head named Doris who can breath blue fire, and a fish head named Gillbert), a dragon-like body, and a fish tail. It is the pet of Judge Juju. *'Caged Juju' - A cranky, horned Juju that lives in a cage and would dearly love to eat Tak. Or anyone else, for that matter. *'Darkness Juju' (Mitch Watson) - A Juju that looks a bit like an obese version of the Devil, who sought the power of the crystal that came into Tak's possession. *'Dinky Juju' (Maurice LaMarche) - A short-tempered Juju with powerful magic.unlike the game, he is restored with a deep voice. He is an adult, but many confuse him for a baby because of his small size. *'Devour Brothers' - They star in the episode, "Sans Sheriff". They're causing trouble in the JuJu realm. They are the brothers of Caged JuJu. *'Feet Juju' - A pair of large, blue feet (and legs) that likes to dance. They seem to be recolored versions of the Giant Misunderstanding Juju. *'Gremlin Juju' (Jeff Bennett) - There is an assortment of these short anglerfish-faced creatures. Some of them serve as the law enforcement of the Jujus. *'Guess Who Juju' (Hal Sparks) - An imaginary Juju that is really Tak just wearing the most clever of disguises. *'Head Juju' - A green floating head with arms that has a southern accent. He lives in the Realm of Scrolls and is the coach of the professional Gratchball team in the Juju realm. *'Judge Juju' (Rob Paulsen) - A corn Juju dressed as a judge. Despite sounding like a man, Judge Juju is actually a woman. *'Killjoy Juju' (Mary Birdsong) - A one-eyed Juju known for stopping parties. She is the wife of Party Juju. *'Love Juju' (Danielle Schneider) - A short, floating, mermaid Juju that wears an inner tube and wields a snorkel as if it was her wand. The Pupununu always throw a festival in her honor. She one time left a hole in the Chief's stomach when she ended up displeased in one of the earlier festivals. *'Mayhem Juju' - A cute but mischievous little creature that Tak and Jeera take home as a pet in the episode "New Pet". It has three musical horns on its head that sound off when it summons a magical power. Mayhem JuJu also has the power to disappear and reappear at any time. *'Party Juju' (Rob Paulsen) - Also known as Dead Juju, Party Juju is a skeleton Juju who is known to start parties and even enjoys parties. Only the powers of his wife, Killjoy Juju can undo the effects of his powers. *'Phobia Juju' - A floating brain Juju that helps the Pupununu tribe every year to overcome their fears. He appears in the episode "Shrink A Dink." *'Psychic Juju' (S. Scott Bullock) - Also known as Mind-Reader Juju, Psychic Juju is a large-headed genie-like Juju with psychic powers and precognition abilities. He always demands "Silence" when he doesn't want to be interrupted when he is giving his latest precognition. *'Pugnacious Juju' (Kirk Ward) - A three-armed retired boxer Juju. He tried to helped Chief into training him to fight the Big Boss Juju. *'Really, Really, Revolting Juju' (Hal Sparks) - A gross-looking Juju. She is the sister of Repugnant Juju and Repulsive Juju. *'Repugnant Juju' (Dannah Feinglass) - A gross-looking Juju. She is the sister of Repulsive Juju and Really, Really Revolting Juju. *'Repulsive Juju' (John DiMaggio) - A gross-looking Juju. He is the younger brother of Repugnant Juju and Really, Really, Revolting Juju. Like his siblings he resembles an obese dinosaur covered with holes that blow disgusting gasses. He also has a large head and large eyestalks. He seems to be the friendliest JuJu and is the most common JuJu to appear. He and Tak are friends.he later evolves and becomes grosser,fatter,and very blob-like. *'Roadkill Juju' (John DiMaggio) - A short peg-legged Juju that loves being run over by J-Runners. *'Spider Juju' (Maurice LaMarche) - A spider Juju with a French accent who's diet seems to consist mainly of human beings. On one occasion, Tak summoned him to get rid of Zaria when she was in charge during the Chief's vacation. *'Vendor Juju' (Nick Jennings) - An orange octopus/jar-like Juju that can sell anything from within its body. He is where Tak and Jeera got the Motiki from. http:// Directors: *Heiko Drengenberg *Nick Jennings *Lane Lueras *Mark Risley *Jim Schumann Voice Directors: *Mitch Watson *Nick Jennings *Ginny McSwain Supervising director: *Jim Schumann Creative Director, CG Department *Josh Book Writing credits *Brandon Auman *Nicole Dubuc *Reid Harrison *Tom Krajewski *Gene Laufenberg *Mitch Watson (Head writer) Producers *Nick Jennings (executive producer) *Audu Paden (supervising producer) *Mitch Watson (co-producer (2007)) Sound department *Michael Petak (sound editor) Story artists *Al Zegler *Mike Mullen *Linda Miller *Bert Ring *Doug McCarthy *Adam Henry *Michael Daedalus Kenny *Robert Griffith *Alex Mann *Gary Perkovac Story editor *Mitch Watson Production companies *Nicktoons Studios Distributors *Nickelodeon (2007) (USA) (TV) *Viacom (2007) (USA) (TV) Based on the games published by THQ and Nick Games and developed by Avalanche Software http:// Volume 1: The Trouble with Magic Release Date: Episodes: *''Woodiefest'' *''Loser'' *''A Shaman's Shaman'' *''The Gift'' *''The Three Chiefs'' *''The Party'' *''The Beast'' *''To Zaria with Love'' *''Girls Only'' *''Secession'' Volume 2: Magic Is Where It Is Release Date: TBA http:// During the Nickelodeon 2007 Kids' Choice Awards, hosted by Justin Timberlake, a preview was shown of the new show and the website is now available at Nick.com. The site includes the preview, a character page and a story page minimally different from the game. http:// *Jason Marsden does not reprise Tak from the video game. Instead, Hal Sparks voices him. Patrick Warburton reprises his role of Lok from the video game (until he sings, yells, & star in season 2). Lloyd Sherr voices Jibolba who was previously voiced by John Kassir in the video game. *Preview commercials on Nickelodeon clearly display the name of Tak's tribe. For the series, it is written "Pupununu". In the series of video games, it was "Pupanunu". *In the television series, Dead Juju is instead called Party Juju with Rob Paulsen reprising the role. Also, Mind-Reader Juju is called Psychic Juju here with S. Scott Bullock voicing him instead of Rob Paulsen. *Tlaloc, the antagonist in the video games, is named Traloc in the show. Rob Paulsen doesn't voice him in the series, Jeff Bennett does. *So far the only Jujus and characters from the original games that haven't appeared are Two-Headed Juju, Moon Juju, Fauna and Flora, and Tlaloc's minions Pins and Needles. http:// *Tak and the Power of Juju http:// http:// *Official Site *Advanced Review: AnimationInsider.net *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0853078/ Tak and the Power of Juju] at the Internet Movie Database *[http://www.tv.com/show/71791/summary.html Tak and the Power of Juju] at TV.com